The mediator role of emotion regulation in the relationship between invalidating childhood environment and psychological distress in adulthood

In this study, it was aimed to determine the mediating role of emotion regulation in the relationship between invalidating childhood environment and psychological distress in adulthood. In order to test the mediation effect of emotion regulation in the relationship between invalidating childhood environment and psychological distress in adulthood, a structural equation model was established and a relational screening type was conducted. The universe of the research consists of adult participants between the ages of 18-65. There are 410 participants in total. Demographic Information Form, Invalidating Childhood Environment (ICES), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation-Short Form (DERS-16) scales were administered to the participants as an online questionnaire. The analysis of the data collected in the research was provided with SPSS 25 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) and LISREL 8.51 programs. Frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean and standard deviation were used to determine the sample distribution, and independent sample t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to test the differences between groups when the scale scores were within the normal distribution. Levene test was applied to determine the homogeneity of the variances of the groups. Tukey test were used when variance is homogenous, Tamhane's T2 test and post hoc tests were used when it was not homogeneous at the stage of determining the direction of difference between groups. Pearson product-moment correlation was used for the correlation between the scales and a two-stage approach from structural equation modeling was used for the mediation effect. According to the results obtained from the analysis; positive and significant relationship between participants' childhood invalidating environment and psychological distress; positive and significant between invalidating environment and difficulty in emotion regulation; it was found that there is a positive and significant relationship between difficulty in emotion regulation and psychological distress. In the study, it was concluded that emotion regulation has a mediating role in the relationship between the invalidating childhood environment and psychological distress in adulthood.